California can do better than we are doing today. Whether it’s our high unemployment, all too common poverty, decaying roads or lagging schools, it’s clear that our state, with all of its resources, can do better. In order to do better, we need to recognize our strengths and our weaknesses. Improving the quality of life for Californians means leveraging our strengths and mitigating the weaknesses that are holding us back. Education and economic opportunity are two key contributors to prosperity. We know that better educated people have higher earning potential, and we have a broad consensus in California that better education for our young people will help them for their entire lives. However, a good education alone doesn’t produce prosperity. That certificate or degree does not do much good unless its holder can find a good job, and there exists an economic environment where someone can move into better paying positions throughout his or her career. This is where the importance of economic opportunity proves to hold equal importance as a good education. It is also the area where California is most clearly failing. Our opponents consistently claim they want to “create good paying jobs” while they concurrently maintain and ratchet up policies to make it increasingly difficult to create those jobs. Across our economy, we know that most job growth isn’t generated by big business or big government. Rather, most job growth is generated when small businesses can succeed and grow into bigger businesses. Yet, small businesses are hit hardest by the torrent of regulations, lawsuits and taxes government ceaselessly throws at them. Government passes on the costs of its own regulations and inefficiencies on to taxpayers. Big businesses have the economies of scale necessary to better absorb yet another tax, regulation, or lawsuit. In California, we’re not making it easier on small businesses. And it’s why CEO’s have rated California as the worst state in the nation for business for the 8th year in a row. http://www.ocregister.com/articles/california-352341-business-state.html Meanwhile, the American Tort Reform Association ranks California as the nation’s top “judicial hellhole. http://www.judicialhellholes.org/2013-2014/california/ The American Legislative Exchange Council ranks California #43 in economic performance and #47 in economic outlook. http://www.alec.org/wp-content/uploads/CA.pdf The list goes on. California needs new leaders who are committed to improving the state’s lagging schools while concurrently expanding economic opportunity. The way we do this? Reform. State government can’t cut its way to efficiency. Reducing spending on an inefficient department or program by 10% still leaves you with an inefficient department or program. In fact, if the bureaucrats in charge of implementing a cut choose to reduce front line workers instead of the bureaucracy or top level management, a cut can leave a department or program even less efficient than before. The Republican Party should not be merely or primarily the party of cuts. We should be the party of reform. It’s not enough to simply spend less money on outdated programs. It’s better to reform those programs we need, get rid of the ones we truly don’t, and invest more in those areas that can genuinely improve education and expand economic opportunity. Unfortunately, too many leaders don’t have the patience or interest in reform. Genuine reform is usually more challenging and time consuming than just passing a budget that tweaks spending on existing programs and departments. And reform is certainly less “fun” than passing new laws that create new programs and benefits that win favor from established interest groups. Yet, the long term health of our state, and our future prosperity, hinges on our ability to take a hard look at existing taxes and programs. Find ways to achieve worthy public policy goals in ways that take into account new ideas, best practices, and what we have learned since those programs and taxes were put in place. Better education and more job opportunities for Californians should be at the center of our vision for California. Bold reforms based on powerful and proven ideas are how we get there.

While Democrats in state capitals such as Sacramento and Albany are busy patting themselves on the back for the great job they’re doing, a new report out today puts California and New York at the bottom of the list for economic performance and outlook, casting doubts about prospects for reducing unemployment creating economic opportunities for millions of Americans living in high tax states.

In “Rich States, Poor States,” the American Legislative Exchange Council and well-respected economist Art Laffer examine each state’s economic performance in areas such as GDP, employment, and domestic migration, all factors that are heavily influenced by state policies. Looking forward, they examine factors influencing future economic growth, such as public debt, the tax burden on individuals and employers, and other factors.

California’s economic outlook ranking plunged from #38 in 2012 to #47 today, placing it among the states with the worst economic outlook in the year ahead. Only Illinois (48), New York (49), and Vermont (50) fared worse.

Ron Nehring, who served as Chairman of the California Republican Party from 2007 to 2011, said this:

“Today’s report demonstrates once again the correlation between bad economic policy coming out of the legislature and fewer economic opportunities for Americans living in states whose capitals are dominated by a high-tax philosophy. New York, California and Illinois underperform compared to other states. In California, we've witnessed a staggering amount of net domestic outmigration: more than 1.5 million people since 2001. Looking ahead, we see that tax and regulatory policies in place today are creating a poor economic outlook which will mean fewer jobs and a smaller tax base to fund important social services.”

California’s highly destructive tax system, a major contributor to both tax volatility for the state and pushing employers elsewhere, merited a dedicated chapter in the new report.

Government power is serious business. All Americans have an interest in ensuring that the power of the state is directed by people of high ethical standards and will hire subordinates who will respect the appropriate role of government, rather than a group of hacks.

"Too often in the political world people delude themselves into thinking that how a person behaves in 'politics' is separate and distinct from how they behave in 'government.' A campaign that encourages staff to push ethical limits, treats people (especially subordinates and volunteers) poorly, and employs sleazy, creepy tactics teaches people that these are the traits and behaviors that are valued and earn rewards," writes Ron Nehring in this new article. "Yet, what happens when these same people are part of a winning campaign, and move into government positions? Are we to believe that those who have been trained in, and rewarded for, skirting the rules and will, when suddenly given the powers of the state, change?"